Harry Bertoia, Sculptor

Harry Bertoia, Sculptor

Author: June Kompass Nelson

Publisher: Wayne State University Press

Published: 2018-02-05

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 0814343716

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Harry Bertoia, Sculptor is devoted to the life and work of a twentieth-century Italian-born American artist whose important commissions are located in twenty-five American cities from New York to Seattle and from Minneapolis to Miami. It traces the development of Bertoia’s versatile career from his youth in Detroit, beginning with drawings, paintings, and monoprints, then jewelry and furniture designs, to his abstract sculptures in metals, many of architectural proportions. The book includes a biography of the man and detailed descriptions of his methods of working. Many major sculptures and some minor ones are described in detail. They are critically analyzed for their aesthetic components and the ideas they were intended to express. A large number of photographs supplements the descriptions and analyses. Two appendixes give chronologies of the artist’s life and of his architectural commissions, the latter virtually a catalog of Bertoia’s major works. Based on several extensive interviews with the artist, as well as on research into his earlier writings, the book includes Bertoia's thoughts on aesthetics and various phases of the art processes he uses. His work is categorized into four major aesthetic explorations that interested him most of his life.


Book Synopsis Harry Bertoia, Sculptor by : June Kompass Nelson

Download or read book Harry Bertoia, Sculptor written by June Kompass Nelson and published by Wayne State University Press. This book was released on 2018-02-05 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Harry Bertoia, Sculptor is devoted to the life and work of a twentieth-century Italian-born American artist whose important commissions are located in twenty-five American cities from New York to Seattle and from Minneapolis to Miami. It traces the development of Bertoia’s versatile career from his youth in Detroit, beginning with drawings, paintings, and monoprints, then jewelry and furniture designs, to his abstract sculptures in metals, many of architectural proportions. The book includes a biography of the man and detailed descriptions of his methods of working. Many major sculptures and some minor ones are described in detail. They are critically analyzed for their aesthetic components and the ideas they were intended to express. A large number of photographs supplements the descriptions and analyses. Two appendixes give chronologies of the artist’s life and of his architectural commissions, the latter virtually a catalog of Bertoia’s major works. Based on several extensive interviews with the artist, as well as on research into his earlier writings, the book includes Bertoia's thoughts on aesthetics and various phases of the art processes he uses. His work is categorized into four major aesthetic explorations that interested him most of his life.

The Life and Work of Harry Bertoia

The Life and Work of Harry Bertoia

Author: Celia Bertoia

Publisher: Schiffer Publishing

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780764346934

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The brilliant mid-century modern artist, Harry Bertoia (1915-1978), left a rich legacy of art and design, each with an intriguing history. And yet, while just about everyone has seen the Diamond Chair, few can identify Harry Bertoia as its designer. Even fewer recognize the Bertoia sculptures and other monumental pieces at various public venues. This important volume, illustrated with over 200 revealing photos, allows easy identification and appreciation of Bertoia's work. Written with insights that only a daughter could offer, this impressive book also reveals the complex man behind the fascinating art. Personal letters and family anecdotes offer a deep look into the life and motivations of this profound metal artist. Not only will readers get a peek at the behind-the-scenes skirmishes involved in making art, but will also gain insight into the philosophy as well as technical innovation of this dynamic artist.


Book Synopsis The Life and Work of Harry Bertoia by : Celia Bertoia

Download or read book The Life and Work of Harry Bertoia written by Celia Bertoia and published by Schiffer Publishing. This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The brilliant mid-century modern artist, Harry Bertoia (1915-1978), left a rich legacy of art and design, each with an intriguing history. And yet, while just about everyone has seen the Diamond Chair, few can identify Harry Bertoia as its designer. Even fewer recognize the Bertoia sculptures and other monumental pieces at various public venues. This important volume, illustrated with over 200 revealing photos, allows easy identification and appreciation of Bertoia's work. Written with insights that only a daughter could offer, this impressive book also reveals the complex man behind the fascinating art. Personal letters and family anecdotes offer a deep look into the life and motivations of this profound metal artist. Not only will readers get a peek at the behind-the-scenes skirmishes involved in making art, but will also gain insight into the philosophy as well as technical innovation of this dynamic artist.

Bertoia

Bertoia

Author: Beverly H. Twitchell

Publisher: Phaidon Press

Published: 2019-04-17

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780714878072

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A celebration of the rich and varied work of Italian-born American artist, designer, and master of metal, Harry Bertoia From chapel altarpieces and bronze fountains, to wire chairs and silver brooches, Harry Bertoia's creative output was varied in the extreme. This new book explores his entire career: his move from Italy to Detroit at 15; his formative years at Cranbrook; his work with Charles Eames and Knoll; through to his fascinating sound sculptures. In doing so, the book demonstrates how seemingly disparate works are in fact united in being reflections of nature, and places Bertoia's art squarely at the heart of American modernism.


Book Synopsis Bertoia by : Beverly H. Twitchell

Download or read book Bertoia written by Beverly H. Twitchell and published by Phaidon Press. This book was released on 2019-04-17 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A celebration of the rich and varied work of Italian-born American artist, designer, and master of metal, Harry Bertoia From chapel altarpieces and bronze fountains, to wire chairs and silver brooches, Harry Bertoia's creative output was varied in the extreme. This new book explores his entire career: his move from Italy to Detroit at 15; his formative years at Cranbrook; his work with Charles Eames and Knoll; through to his fascinating sound sculptures. In doing so, the book demonstrates how seemingly disparate works are in fact united in being reflections of nature, and places Bertoia's art squarely at the heart of American modernism.

Harry Bertoia

Harry Bertoia

Author: Marin R. Sullivan

Publisher: Scheidegger and Spiess

Published: 2022-03-22

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9783858818621

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An extraordinary artist and designer: a fresh view of Harry Bertoia's entire body of work. Italian-born American Harry Bertoia (1915-78) was one of the most prolific and innovative artists and designers of the postwar period. Trained at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, where he met future colleagues and collaborators, such as Charles and Ray Eames, Florence Knoll, and Eero Saarinen, he went on to make one-of-a-kind jewelry, design iconic chairs, create thousands of unique sculptures including large-scale commissions for significant buildings, and advance the use of sound as sculptural material. His work speaks to the confluence of numerous fields of endeavor but is united throughout by a sculptural approach to making and an experimental embrace of metal. Harry Bertoia: Sculpting Mid-Century Modern Life accompanies the first US museum retrospective of the artist's career to examine the full scope of his broad, interdisciplinary practice and features important examples of his furniture, jewelry, monotypes, and diverse sculptural output. Lavishly illustrated, the book offers new scholarly essays as well as a catalog of the artist's numerous large-scale commissions. It questions how and why we distinguish between a chair, a necklace, a screen, and a freestanding sculpture--and what Bertoia's sculptural things, when taken together, say about the fluidity of visual language across culture, both at midcentury and now.


Book Synopsis Harry Bertoia by : Marin R. Sullivan

Download or read book Harry Bertoia written by Marin R. Sullivan and published by Scheidegger and Spiess. This book was released on 2022-03-22 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An extraordinary artist and designer: a fresh view of Harry Bertoia's entire body of work. Italian-born American Harry Bertoia (1915-78) was one of the most prolific and innovative artists and designers of the postwar period. Trained at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, where he met future colleagues and collaborators, such as Charles and Ray Eames, Florence Knoll, and Eero Saarinen, he went on to make one-of-a-kind jewelry, design iconic chairs, create thousands of unique sculptures including large-scale commissions for significant buildings, and advance the use of sound as sculptural material. His work speaks to the confluence of numerous fields of endeavor but is united throughout by a sculptural approach to making and an experimental embrace of metal. Harry Bertoia: Sculpting Mid-Century Modern Life accompanies the first US museum retrospective of the artist's career to examine the full scope of his broad, interdisciplinary practice and features important examples of his furniture, jewelry, monotypes, and diverse sculptural output. Lavishly illustrated, the book offers new scholarly essays as well as a catalog of the artist's numerous large-scale commissions. It questions how and why we distinguish between a chair, a necklace, a screen, and a freestanding sculpture--and what Bertoia's sculptural things, when taken together, say about the fluidity of visual language across culture, both at midcentury and now.

No Compromise

No Compromise

Author: Ana Araujo

Publisher: Chronicle Books

Published: 2021-06-22

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13: 1648960243

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Florence Knoll (1917–2019) was a leading force of modern design. She worked from 1945 to 1965 at Knoll Associates, first as business partner with her husband Hans Knoll, later as president after his death, and, finally, as design director. Her commissions became hallmarks of the modern era, including the Barcelona Chair by Mies van der Rohe, the Diamond Chair by Harry Bertoia, and the Platner Collection by Warren Platner. She created classics like the Parallel Bar Collection, still in production today. Knoll invented the visual language of the modern office through her groundbreaking interiors and the creation of the acclaimed "Knoll look," which remains a standard for interior design today. She reinvigorated the International Style through humanizing textiles, lighting, and accessories. Although Knoll's motto was "no compromise, ever," as a woman in a white, upper-middle-class, male-dominated environment, she often had to make accommodations to gain respect from her colleagues, clients, and collaborators. No Compromise looks at Knoll's extraordinary career in close-up, from her student days to her professional accomplishments.


Book Synopsis No Compromise by : Ana Araujo

Download or read book No Compromise written by Ana Araujo and published by Chronicle Books. This book was released on 2021-06-22 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Florence Knoll (1917–2019) was a leading force of modern design. She worked from 1945 to 1965 at Knoll Associates, first as business partner with her husband Hans Knoll, later as president after his death, and, finally, as design director. Her commissions became hallmarks of the modern era, including the Barcelona Chair by Mies van der Rohe, the Diamond Chair by Harry Bertoia, and the Platner Collection by Warren Platner. She created classics like the Parallel Bar Collection, still in production today. Knoll invented the visual language of the modern office through her groundbreaking interiors and the creation of the acclaimed "Knoll look," which remains a standard for interior design today. She reinvigorated the International Style through humanizing textiles, lighting, and accessories. Although Knoll's motto was "no compromise, ever," as a woman in a white, upper-middle-class, male-dominated environment, she often had to make accommodations to gain respect from her colleagues, clients, and collaborators. No Compromise looks at Knoll's extraordinary career in close-up, from her student days to her professional accomplishments.

Handcrafted Modern

Handcrafted Modern

Author: Leslie Williamson

Publisher: Rizzoli Publications

Published: 2010-10-12

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 0847834182

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An intimate and revealing collection of photographs of astonishingly beautiful, iconic, and undiscovered mid-century interiors. Among significant mid-century interiors, none are more celebrated yet underpublished as the homes created by architects and interior designers for themselves. This collection of newly commissioned photographs presents the most compelling homes by influential mid-century designers, such as Russel Wright, George Nakashima, Harry Bertoia, Charles and Ray Eames, and Eva Zeisel, among others. Intimate as well as revelatory, Williamson’s photographs show these creative homes as they were lived in by their designers: Walter Gropius’s historic Bauhaus home in Massachusetts; Albert Frey’s floating modernist aerie on a Palm Springs rock outcropping; Wharton Esherick’s completely handmade Pennsylvania house, from the organic handcarved staircase to the iconic furniture. Personal and breathtaking by turn—these homes are exemplary studies of domestic modernism at its warmest and most creative.


Book Synopsis Handcrafted Modern by : Leslie Williamson

Download or read book Handcrafted Modern written by Leslie Williamson and published by Rizzoli Publications. This book was released on 2010-10-12 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An intimate and revealing collection of photographs of astonishingly beautiful, iconic, and undiscovered mid-century interiors. Among significant mid-century interiors, none are more celebrated yet underpublished as the homes created by architects and interior designers for themselves. This collection of newly commissioned photographs presents the most compelling homes by influential mid-century designers, such as Russel Wright, George Nakashima, Harry Bertoia, Charles and Ray Eames, and Eva Zeisel, among others. Intimate as well as revelatory, Williamson’s photographs show these creative homes as they were lived in by their designers: Walter Gropius’s historic Bauhaus home in Massachusetts; Albert Frey’s floating modernist aerie on a Palm Springs rock outcropping; Wharton Esherick’s completely handmade Pennsylvania house, from the organic handcarved staircase to the iconic furniture. Personal and breathtaking by turn—these homes are exemplary studies of domestic modernism at its warmest and most creative.

Harry Bertoia Four Decades of Drawings

Harry Bertoia Four Decades of Drawings

Author: Harry Bertoia

Publisher:

Published: 2010-07-16

Total Pages: 119

ISBN-13: 9780982597811

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Book Synopsis Harry Bertoia Four Decades of Drawings by : Harry Bertoia

Download or read book Harry Bertoia Four Decades of Drawings written by Harry Bertoia and published by . This book was released on 2010-07-16 with total page 119 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Lists

Lists

Author: Liza Kirwin

Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press

Published: 2010-03-15

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 9781568988887

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From the weekly shopping list to the Ten Commandments, our lives are shaped by lists. Whether dashed off as a quick reminder, or carefully constructed as an inventory, this humble form of documentation provides insight into its maker's personal habits and decision-making processes. This is especially true for artists, whose day-to-day acts of living and art-making overlap and inform each other. Artists' lists shed uncover a host of unbeknownst motivations, attitudes, and opinions about their work and the work of others. Lists presents almost seventy artifacts, including "to do" lists, membership lists, lists of paintings sold, lists of books to read, lists of appointments made and met, lists of supplies to get, lists of places to see, and lists of people who are "in." At times introspective, humorous, and resolute, but always revealing and engaging, Lists is a unique firsthand account of American cultural history that augments the personal biographies of some of the most celebrated and revered artists of thelast two centuries. Many of the lists are historically important, throwing a flood of light on a moment, movement, or event; others are private, providing an intimate view of an artist's personal life: Pablo Picasso itemized his recommendations for the Armory Show in 1912; architect Eero Saarinen enumerated the good qualities of the then New York Times art editor and critic Aline Bernstein, his second wife; sculptor Alexander Calder's address book reveals the whos who of the Parisian avant-garde in the early twentieth century. In the hands of their creators, these artifacts become works of art in and of themselves. Lists includes rarely seen specimens by Vito Acconci, Leo Castelli, Joseph Cornell, Hans Hofmann, Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning, Lee Krasner, H. L. Mencken, Robert Motherwell, Barnett Newman, Jackson Pollock, Richard Pousette-Dart, Robert Rauschenberg, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still, and Andrew Wyeth.


Book Synopsis Lists by : Liza Kirwin

Download or read book Lists written by Liza Kirwin and published by Princeton Architectural Press. This book was released on 2010-03-15 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the weekly shopping list to the Ten Commandments, our lives are shaped by lists. Whether dashed off as a quick reminder, or carefully constructed as an inventory, this humble form of documentation provides insight into its maker's personal habits and decision-making processes. This is especially true for artists, whose day-to-day acts of living and art-making overlap and inform each other. Artists' lists shed uncover a host of unbeknownst motivations, attitudes, and opinions about their work and the work of others. Lists presents almost seventy artifacts, including "to do" lists, membership lists, lists of paintings sold, lists of books to read, lists of appointments made and met, lists of supplies to get, lists of places to see, and lists of people who are "in." At times introspective, humorous, and resolute, but always revealing and engaging, Lists is a unique firsthand account of American cultural history that augments the personal biographies of some of the most celebrated and revered artists of thelast two centuries. Many of the lists are historically important, throwing a flood of light on a moment, movement, or event; others are private, providing an intimate view of an artist's personal life: Pablo Picasso itemized his recommendations for the Armory Show in 1912; architect Eero Saarinen enumerated the good qualities of the then New York Times art editor and critic Aline Bernstein, his second wife; sculptor Alexander Calder's address book reveals the whos who of the Parisian avant-garde in the early twentieth century. In the hands of their creators, these artifacts become works of art in and of themselves. Lists includes rarely seen specimens by Vito Acconci, Leo Castelli, Joseph Cornell, Hans Hofmann, Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning, Lee Krasner, H. L. Mencken, Robert Motherwell, Barnett Newman, Jackson Pollock, Richard Pousette-Dart, Robert Rauschenberg, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still, and Andrew Wyeth.

The Man in the Glass House

The Man in the Glass House

Author: Mark Lamster

Publisher: Little, Brown

Published: 2018-11-06

Total Pages: 485

ISBN-13: 0316453498

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A "smoothly written and fair-minded" (Wall Street Journal) biography of architect Philip Johnson -- a finalist for the National Book Critic's Circle Award. When Philip Johnson died in 2005 at the age of 98, he was still one of the most recognizable and influential figures on the American cultural landscape. The first recipient of the Pritzker Prize and MoMA's founding architectural curator, Johnson made his mark as one of America's leading architects with his famous Glass House in New Caanan, CT, and his controversial AT&T Building in NYC, among many others in nearly every city in the country -- but his most natural role was as a consummate power broker and shaper of public opinion. Johnson introduced European modernism -- the sleek, glass-and-steel architecture that now dominates our cities -- to America, and mentored generations of architects, designers, and artists to follow. He defined the era of "starchitecture" with its flamboyant buildings and celebrity designers who esteemed aesthetics and style above all other concerns. But Johnson was also a man of deep paradoxes: he was a Nazi sympathizer, a designer of synagogues, an enfant terrible into his old age, a populist, and a snob. His clients ranged from the Rockefellers to televangelists to Donald Trump. Award-winning architectural critic and biographer Mark Lamster's The Man in the Glass House lifts the veil on Johnson's controversial and endlessly contradictory life to tell the story of a charming yet deeply flawed man. A rollercoaster tale of the perils of wealth, privilege, and ambition, this book probes the dynamics of American culture that made him so powerful, and tells the story of the built environment in modern America.


Book Synopsis The Man in the Glass House by : Mark Lamster

Download or read book The Man in the Glass House written by Mark Lamster and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2018-11-06 with total page 485 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A "smoothly written and fair-minded" (Wall Street Journal) biography of architect Philip Johnson -- a finalist for the National Book Critic's Circle Award. When Philip Johnson died in 2005 at the age of 98, he was still one of the most recognizable and influential figures on the American cultural landscape. The first recipient of the Pritzker Prize and MoMA's founding architectural curator, Johnson made his mark as one of America's leading architects with his famous Glass House in New Caanan, CT, and his controversial AT&T Building in NYC, among many others in nearly every city in the country -- but his most natural role was as a consummate power broker and shaper of public opinion. Johnson introduced European modernism -- the sleek, glass-and-steel architecture that now dominates our cities -- to America, and mentored generations of architects, designers, and artists to follow. He defined the era of "starchitecture" with its flamboyant buildings and celebrity designers who esteemed aesthetics and style above all other concerns. But Johnson was also a man of deep paradoxes: he was a Nazi sympathizer, a designer of synagogues, an enfant terrible into his old age, a populist, and a snob. His clients ranged from the Rockefellers to televangelists to Donald Trump. Award-winning architectural critic and biographer Mark Lamster's The Man in the Glass House lifts the veil on Johnson's controversial and endlessly contradictory life to tell the story of a charming yet deeply flawed man. A rollercoaster tale of the perils of wealth, privilege, and ambition, this book probes the dynamics of American culture that made him so powerful, and tells the story of the built environment in modern America.

Alloys

Alloys

Author: Marin R. Sullivan

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2022-03-22

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 0691215774

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A new look at the interrelationship of architecture and sculpture during one of the richest periods of American modern design Alloys looks at a unique period of synergy and exchange in the postwar United States, when sculpture profoundly shaped architecture, and vice versa. Leading architects such as Gordon Bunshaft and Eero Saarinen turned to sculptors including Harry Bertoia, Alexander Calder, Richard Lippold, and Isamu Noguchi to produce site-determined, large-scale sculptures tailored for their buildings’ highly visible and well-traversed threshold spaces. The parameters of these spaces—atriums, lobbies, plazas, and entryways—led to various designs like sculptural walls, ceilings, and screens that not only embraced new industrial materials and processes, but also demonstrated art’s ability to merge with lived architectural spaces. Marin Sullivan argues that these sculptural commissions represent an alternate history of midcentury American art. Rather than singular masterworks by lone geniuses, some of the era’s most notable spaces—Philip Johnson’s Four Seasons Restaurant in Mies van der Rohe’s Seagram Building, Max Abramovitz’s Philharmonic Hall at Lincoln Center, and Pietro Belluschi and Walter Gropius’s Pan Am Building—would be diminished without the collaborative efforts of architects and artists. At the same time, the artistic creations within these spaces could not exist anywhere else. Sullivan shows that the principle of synergy provides an ideal framework to assess this pronounced relationship between sculpture and architecture. She also explores the afterlives of these postwar commissions in the decades since their construction. A fresh consideration of sculpture’s relationship to architectural design and functionality following World War II, Alloys highlights the affinities between the two fields and the ways their connections remain with us today.


Book Synopsis Alloys by : Marin R. Sullivan

Download or read book Alloys written by Marin R. Sullivan and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2022-03-22 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new look at the interrelationship of architecture and sculpture during one of the richest periods of American modern design Alloys looks at a unique period of synergy and exchange in the postwar United States, when sculpture profoundly shaped architecture, and vice versa. Leading architects such as Gordon Bunshaft and Eero Saarinen turned to sculptors including Harry Bertoia, Alexander Calder, Richard Lippold, and Isamu Noguchi to produce site-determined, large-scale sculptures tailored for their buildings’ highly visible and well-traversed threshold spaces. The parameters of these spaces—atriums, lobbies, plazas, and entryways—led to various designs like sculptural walls, ceilings, and screens that not only embraced new industrial materials and processes, but also demonstrated art’s ability to merge with lived architectural spaces. Marin Sullivan argues that these sculptural commissions represent an alternate history of midcentury American art. Rather than singular masterworks by lone geniuses, some of the era’s most notable spaces—Philip Johnson’s Four Seasons Restaurant in Mies van der Rohe’s Seagram Building, Max Abramovitz’s Philharmonic Hall at Lincoln Center, and Pietro Belluschi and Walter Gropius’s Pan Am Building—would be diminished without the collaborative efforts of architects and artists. At the same time, the artistic creations within these spaces could not exist anywhere else. Sullivan shows that the principle of synergy provides an ideal framework to assess this pronounced relationship between sculpture and architecture. She also explores the afterlives of these postwar commissions in the decades since their construction. A fresh consideration of sculpture’s relationship to architectural design and functionality following World War II, Alloys highlights the affinities between the two fields and the ways their connections remain with us today.